Results of a Doting Father
by DragonClaw827
Summary: Iemitsu loves his tuna-fishie. Unfortunately, his work as the outside adviser keeps him away from his family. Tsuna takes it upon himself to go see him when his papa can't come home. Young!Tsuna; strictly a one-shot.
**This is a collaboration between DragonClaw827 and Scheming Rabbit.**

 **Scheming Rabbit: This is my repentance for being so mean to Iemitsu in Little Prince.**

 **DragonClaw827: I made Tsuna cry in my Phoenix fic (I'LL GET TO UPDATING AAAAAHHHH). He deserves some happiness. ;-;**

* * *

Iemitsu was a loving father. A _very_ loving father. He loved his only son since the first time he saw the tiny brunet, still covered in birthing fluids and blood, newly arrived in the world. His dear wife took their son into her arms once the nurses cleaned and weighed him.

"Hello, little Tsunayoshi," she cooed at her newborn. The baby, after having cried his lungs out during the time the nurses handled him, simply relaxed into his mother's arms and snuffled.

"He's so cute," Iemitsu marvelled. He gently touched his son's forehead, rustling the thin baby hairs resting there. "Thank you for this beautiful gift, Nana." He kissed his wife lovingly.

He used up the three months of break he had been given to care for his wife and new son, making sure his still exhausted wife was never in want. He woke up at odd hours in the morning to fix Tsuna's bottle and change his diapers so that she could rest. He picked up the groceries and took Tsuna outside for some sunlight. He even tried his hand at sewing to make the infant cat-eared pajamas. Once the three months were up, he applied for another three months. His son was just starting to sit up and roll around; he didn't want to miss any important developments after all.

Another three months passed, and Iemitsu chose to use up more of his accumulated vacation days. Now his tuna-fish was attempting to talk. He wanted his first words to be "Papa".

When Tsuna was 11 months old, he was overjoyed when he got his wish. "Papa, Papa!" Tsuna squeaked as he reached his arms up, asking to be picked up.

"My sweet tuna!" Iemitsu laughed happily as he complied to his son's demand.

Nono was getting anxious to have Iemitsu back at work, but the outside advisor pushed aside his worries and used the last of his vacation days, which amounted to two years, to stay with his small family. During that time, Tsuna got better at walking, ran to his papa to save him from the monsters under his bed, and learned to ride a tricycle.

Then, once he ran out of vacation time, he stifled his tears as Oregano stuffed him into a car to take him to the airport, making sure he couldn't run off somewhere with his wife and son to stay with them for longer. His three-year-old Tsuna didn't understand that he wouldn't be able to see his papa for a long time, so he cheerfully waved goodbye in his mother's arms, thinking that Papa would be back by bedtime to read him another story.

He waited that night for Papa to open the door and pick up the book he had chosen. He was mildly disappointed that it was Mama that came to read to him. He waited the next night for Papa to come see Tsu-kun, then the next, and the next…

* * *

Iemitsu had to leave his darling son and wife, but that did not mean he would leave them unprotected. He posted a team of Storms and Suns to pulverize anyone who may target his family and to heal Tsuna in case he ever got hurt.

Tsuna got hurt a lot. He was still figuring out how to move his body correctly and tended to stumble and fall when walking on a sloped surface. So when Tsuna slipped and fell for the first time after Iemitsu left while on the way home from kindergarten, one of the Suns approached the teary-eyed child to heal his bloody knee.

That was when six-year-old Hibari arrived. But he didn't see a benevolent man trying to heal the hurt child. No, he saw a suspiciously suited large herbivore going toward the tiny herbivore with bad intentions, especially considering the man had his hands reached out as if to grab Tsuna. The Sun froze as he locked eyes with the young Hibari and felt a chill go down his spine.

Never lock eyes with a predator, or else it will take it as a challenge.

Hibari attacked.

The man yelped as the black-haired child leapt at him with wooden tonfas out to strike him. He jumped away to avoid the hit, then again as the child aimed for his knee. He ran away, not willing to hurt a civilian child even if he was the one that started to attack. The Young Lion would definitely not approve, especially considering the little monster was younger than his own son.

As the Sun fled with Hibari nipping at his heels, another Sun came out of hiding and walked up to the sniffling boy. He quickly healed his knee with a burst of Sun Flames and patted his head, disappearing back into some part of the street before Hibari could come back.

From then on, whenever Tsuna got hurt, one person was sent out to make sure Hibari wasn't around and another was sent out to do the actual healing.. Namimori became accustomed to seeing Hibari chase around suited men, and Hibari developed an instinctive suspicion to all suits in general. (That was a problem for the future when Hibari had to attend formal gatherings with his Sky and could not help threatening everyone that tried to approach.)

* * *

A full year passed before Tsuna saw his papa again. He had been playing outside with his red ball when the big black car came back and Papa came out of it. He forgot about the ball and instead ran to his papa, a thin trickle of tears falling down his face as he hugged him and breathed in the familiar comforting scent.

"Hello, my dear Tsuna. Have you been well?" Iemitsu greeted, using a soothing tone to calm down his son.

"I was good, Papa. Don't go away again," Tsuna begged, gripping Iemitsu's shirt in a tighter hold.

"Guess what, Tsu-kun? We can play together for a whole twelve days!" Iemitsu said instead of reassuring Tsuna he wouldn't leave. Hopefully he would be able to distract Tsuna from his inevitable departure. He only had twelve vacation days left after all. He'd used up his previous years' days during those first three years of Tsuna's life.

Thankfully, Tsuna's childish short attention span and his happiness of being with his papa again successfully diverted his fears of Iemitsu leaving. Tsuna's family was together again, and they'd go on picnics and see Kokuyo Land and read new books and lots of other things…

Tsuna's plans were cut short when Iemitsu's time ran out twelve days later and he was once again forcefully taken back to Italy by Oregano. This time, he understood that his papa wouldn't come back for a long time and cried as he watched the car drive away.

* * *

Tsuna waited (im)patiently for Papa to come back. They still had to go to Kokuyo Land together. However, a year later, Iemitsu was unable to make his visit because of unprecedented amounts of attacks on Vongola and the subsequent need to attend negotiations for new alliances. He instead sent Tsuna a letter of apology and a consolatory gift (a family of three plush bears). But Tsuna was not content with just this. He wanted to see Papa. If Papa wouldn't come see Tsu-kun, then Tsu-kun would go to him.

So he gathered his unreasonably large allowance that he never used (really, what did Iemitsu think a child would do with 50,000 yen every month?) to buy a plane ticket to Italy. "Does Mama want to see Papa, too?" he asked.

"Of course I do, Tsu-kun, but Papa has work to do, so he can't come home. And Mama still has to clean the living room today," Nana said as she gave him a plate of delicately cut apple slices.

"Okay, Mama," he replied as he picked up an apple bunny. He would go alone.

* * *

The airport was bustling with people hurrying towards their dangerous winged flights, though an old attendee had a sharp eye due to working there for so long. Like now, she could spot a small brunet boy—not much older than her grandson—looking rather lost and confused. Sighing in exasperation, she walked towards him, leaving someone to take her place for the time being. It was apparently a common occurrence since the rest of the attendees didn't bat an eyelash.

She stalked towards him, her one-inch heels making a steady _clip-clop_ sound—and though many wouldn't have been able to differentiate whether or not someone was approaching them, the sharp little boy perked up in surprise and stared right at her.

At around fifteen meters away.

She jerked in surprise. She could see that the boy was looking expectantly at her, as if knowing that she would've approached. It was as if he was waiting for his aunt, but she didn't know him. Or perhaps it was some kind of crazy intuition?

She shook her head. No, that's quite absurd. She continued her trek towards the boy, determined to put her thoughts to the back of her mind. She has better things to do—like wondering where the heck his parents were. Glancing around the boy, she decided that _no_ , his parents were not around. She slowed down and took a deep breath. She was, after all, aging, and even walking was hard for her.

"Hi, oba-san!" he chirped.

She twitched. Ah, he was still quite young and probably didn't know any manners yet. She cleared her throat, grimacing at the disgusting feeling that still clogged it. Gosh, she hated being old. "Hello, where are your parents?" she inquired kindly, not giving away her hatred for old age.

The boy blinked. He glanced around and spotted the plane that he heard he was supposed to be riding. He recognized the logo on the side.

 _Ah, that's how I get to Papa!_ Tsuna realized. He pointed at the plane, whose take-off time was minutes off.

She paled.

How the heck was he still stuck here when his parents were in the plane?!

Hurriedly, she ushered the boy up the correct flight of stairs that led to the plane's entryway. The boy almost stumbled, and she caught his arm to avoid him fall down—the rather _long_ way down. She also carried the boy's luggage, opting to save more time than to complain about her "old, weakened bones". She didn't have time to be snarky, especially not when the little child was minutes off from being separated from his family.

When they reached the top, she was more than ready to collapse when the young boy hugged her and smiled.

"Thank you!" he said happily, and she gave a weak smile of her own.

"Is your plane going to Italy?" she asked, making sure that it was indeed his flight. If it wasn't, then… she would cry in a corner. Her old bones shouldn't be taking such stress. However, she was rewarded with the greatest answer of all: _yes_.

And so, she saw the young boy off, watching him walk through the entry after showing his passport. What a responsible kid.

… Though she _did_ find it odd that he didn't burst into tears like most kids his age would've been doing. She silently commended the young boy for his bravery.

* * *

Tsuna pulled along his luggage as he walked out of the airport. Papa said he worked somewhere called Vongola, but he couldn't find a place like that anywhere on the internet. But Papa said it was somewhere in Italy, so he just had to walk around until he saw it, right?

Fortunately for the five-year-old, Tsuna had chosen the right airport to land in; it was in the same city as one of the Vongola offices, the same one that Iemitsu was currently having a meeting in. Now all he had to do was find someone to lead him there—easier said than done since he only knew a few Italian words that his papa had taught him. Maybe he could find someone with the Vongola crest instead, or—

A flicker of orange caught his eye. Curious, Tsuna dragged his luggage to the alleyway it came from. The bag was feeling heavier than before. Hopefully he'd find Papa soon.

Tsuna panted quietly to catch his breath, then he looked into the alley. There were four men on the dusty ground and another one standing above them with orange fire in his hands, just like what Papa could make.

Fifteen-year-old Xanxus sneered at the men he'd caught trying to sneak into Vongola's office and kicked one man's hand aside as he walked back in. Father wouldn't scold him too harshly for not putting away the trash. He could send other people to do it now that they were knocked out.

At the mouth of the alley, Tsuna scrambled to follow the black-haired teen. Something was telling him he'd find Papa if he did.

* * *

Iemitsu fiddled with his hands under the table as he stared straight ahead with a hard glare as if he were entirely in synch with the mood of the meeting: formal and serious. In truth, he was not paying attention at all to whatever grievances the Tartaruga familia's boss was talking about. Instead, he was daydreaming about his wonderfully adorable Tsu-kun and considering what gifts he should send to him next. Maybe some nice leather shoes? Tsuna should have some comfortable shoes to walk around in. He could just imagine his short, light footsteps as he skipped to his papa.

"Papa!"

Oh, he could even hear his voice now! Wow, he was really good at hallucinating because his eyes wouldn't ever deceive him about _Tsuna being there at the meeting_ —

A _mafia meeting_ —

"Oh, god," Iemitsu squeaked.

Fortunately and unfortunately (very, _very_ unfortunate because his pure, innocent Tuna-fish was near these disgusting scoundrels, calling themselves human), Tsuna was actually present in the room.

Smiling.

Laughing.

All the while looking _too cute to be real_ —

—but surrounded by mafioso.

One of the bosses looked at his son with wide eyes. "That is a f—" Iemitsu immediately whipped around and glared, hand discreetly inching towards his gun. "—flipping adorable child." The other bosses nodded dazedly at the tiny mass of cuteness.

Tsuna merely cocked his head to the side, seriously confused.

"Can Papa play now?" he asked, shrugging off their gazes and looking up at his papa.

"Sorry, Tsu-kun, but Papa still has work." Tsuna's eyes teared up. Iemitsu hurried to add, "But I'm sure we can hurry this meeting up and finish so Papa can take his tuna-fishie to buy ice cream."

Tsuna turned his pleading _moe_ eyes to the other men (and two women) in the room, silently begging for them to bring the meeting to an end.

"O-of course we can. We just have to finalize the terms for the alliance," one said.

"Right. Now, we agreed on a five-year contract with a share of 10%, yes?" Iemitsu asked.

One man got to his feet. "No, I said I wanted—" Tsuna focused his watery eyes on the dissenter. "—I-I said—" Tsuna sniffled. He gave up. "...I agree to the terms."

* * *

Afterwards, Iemitsu took Tsuna for the promised ice cream and then back home with new leather shoes. "Now, Tsu-kun, Papa has to go back to work." He staved off Tsuna's crying with a loving nuzzle to his hair. "Don't worry. I'll come back to see you when I have the time." Iemitsu turned his head to the size and quietly muttered so that Oregano couldn't hear, "And maybe when I can sneak away."

Tsuna sniffled but bravely held back his tears. "Okay, Papa," he responded, "but can I come see you again?" He looked up at him with shiny doe eyes. "I'll even bring Mama next time."

Iemitsu tightly hugged his son and chuckled, not believing that Tsuna would make it all the way back to Italy a second time. "Sure, little tuna-fish."

Tsuna kept his word. Next month, he was back with his mother.

"Papa!"


End file.
